Human Error
by Zanza8
Summary: Doc feels bad when a mistaken diagnosis almost costs Festus his life.
1. Chapter 1

Doc walked into the Longbranch and went over to the back table where Matt was sitting with Kitty and Festus. The old man sighed wearily as he sat down and the marshal asked, "Rough day?"

Doc shook his head. "This town needs another doctor. First it was the Colliers in one direction, then Mrs Carver ten miles in the other direction. I got back to the office and Burke was waiting with a toothache and when I got done with him Hank wanted some liniment for his aches and pains and after I gave him some Ma showed up with a head cold! I'm just worn out."

Kitty smiled. "Would a drink help?"

Doc smiled back. "It certainly would."

Kitty beckoned to Sam. The bartender brought a glass and Kitty poured a drink for Doc, then freshened Matt's drink and her own. She started to top up Festus' glass but the deputy shook his head. "Much obliged, Miss Kitty, but I don't b'lieve I want no more."

Doc scowled. "Since when do you turn down free drinks?"

Festus made a vague gesture at his stomach. "I got me a pain right here."

The old man grunted. "Probably gas."

"Sure does feel bad. Don't you got nothin' you can give me?"

"I can give you some advice," Doc said crankily. "Go home and go to bed. Oh, and you might try not stuffing yourself every time you sit down to a meal. The way you eat I'm surprised your stomach hasn't dropped clean out of your body."

"Why, you ornery old scutter, I don't eat no more'n what it takes to keep body'n soul together!"

Doc ran his hand over his face. "That would be true if you were an elephant. If you're still not feeling well in the morning come and see me. Right now I'm just too tired to deal with your hypochondria."

"Hypo what?"

"Go home!" snapped the old man.

"All right!" Festus got to his feet, glaring. "Matthew, Miss Kitty, I'll be seein' you tomorrow. And you...you blamed old grumphead, I ain't gonna bother with you for a month of Sundays!"

He turned on his heel and left, Doc yelling, "Good! I could use a rest from your whining!"

Matt and Kitty exchanged a glance and she said, "Doc, maybe you should go home yourself and get some sleep."

The old man finished his drink and stood up. "You're right, Kitty. I'm just too tired to see straight." He looked wistfully at the doors and said quietly, "Don't repeat this, but I might have been a little hard on Festus."

Kitty smiled. "Don't worry about it, Doc. He'll be waiting at your office tomorrow morning just like he always does and you can buy him a big breakfast to make up for it."


	2. Chapter 2

It was going on one o'clock in the morning when Doc was pulled from slumber by the pounding on his door. Yawning, he threw on a dressing gown and went into his office to find Louie peering through the glass. The old man opened the door. "What's the matter, Louie?"

The town drunk weaved on his feet but his eyes looked sober-and alarmed. "It's Festus, Doc. I was gonna go to sleep in the stables and I heard him groaning in the back."

Doc was exasperated. "He's just got a bellyache from overeating. Now if you don't mind I'm going back to bed."

He turned to go and Louie caught his arm. "Please, Doc, please come. Festus is my friend and he seems awful sick..."

Louie's eyes filled with tears and Doc sighed. "All right, Louie. Give me a few minutes to get some clothes on and I'll be right there."

Louie gave him a watery smile. "Thanks, Doc." He left and the old man dressed and made his way over to the stables to find Louie pacing up and down. As soon as he saw Doc he took his arm and led him to the back room where Festus lived. The deputy was curled in a ball, holding his stomach and moaning in pain and Doc's mouth went dry. "Festus, how you feeling?"

His friend didn't respond for a moment, then he grated out, "Doc, I sure am sorry Louie bothered you. I done tolt him you wuz plum tuckered out and I didn't need you."

The old man swallowed hard. "Well, Festus, I'm here now so I might as well take a look at you. Where does it hurt?"

"My belly..."

Doc ran his hand over his face. "Can you stretch out for a minute and let me check it?" Festus turned on his back and Doc carefully probed his stomach. His heart sank as he felt the swollen mass on the lower right side of the deputy's abdomen. Doc stepped back and Festus curled up again.

"What's wrong with him, Doc?" asked Louie.

The old man said quietly, "Louie, go get Matt. I'm going to need some help getting Festus up to the office."

Louie gulped and left and the deputy said miserably, "Doc, I don't need no office visit for a bellyache. I'll be better directly."

Doc pulled up a chair and sat next to the bunk. "Festus, I'm afraid it's a little more serious than a bellyache. You've got appendicitis and you're going to need an operation."

Festus gritted his teeth. "Couldn' you just give me some of them little pink pills?"

Doc laid a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. "No, because your appendix has to come out. That's what's making you sick and it's not going to get better on its own." The old man rummaged in his bag and took out a bottle and a guaze mask. "I'm going to put you to sleep now and when you wake up I promise you'll feel a lot better." The deputy's eyes were scared, but he let Doc mask him without further protest and after a few drops of chloroform he was unconscious. Doc was checking his pulse when Matt came in. "Matt, we have to get Festus upstairs."

The marshal frowned. "I thought you said he wasn't really sick."

Doc looked ashamed. "He's got appendicitis."

"Appendicitis!"

"Can we talk about this later?" Doc's voice was low and he avoided his friend's eyes. "Right now I need to take care of Festus."


	3. Chapter 3

Matt was at the Longbranch with Kitty the next morning when Doc came in. The old man stopped at the bar to have a word with Sam, then came over to join his friends. "Festus is all right."

"I'm glad to hear that," said Matt. "He didn't look too good last night."

Doc hung his head. "Matt, anything you want to say to me I've already said to myself a hundred times. I didn't listen when Festus said he wasn't feeling well...he suffered unnecessarily because I didn't do my job..." Doc's voice fell. "He could have died and it would have been all my fault."

"Now wait just a minute!" snapped Kitty. "Doc, you do the work of ten men around here." She glared at Matt. "Don't tell me you never made a mistake, Matt. I happen to know you've made plenty!"

The marshal was startled. "Kitty, I wasn't trying to hurt Doc's feelings."

"Just what were you trying to do?"

The marshal looked chagrined and Doc patted Kitty's arm. "It's all right, Kitty. I just wanted to let you know Festus is all right and you can come see him any time you want. Same thing goes for you, Matt. I'm going back to the office now...I want to be there when Festus wakes up."


	4. Chapter 4

Kitty balanced a tray in one hand and knocked at Doc's door. He opened it and she gave him a searching look, then went to the bedroom door. "Festus?"

"Come on in, Miss Kitty." The deputy was propped up in bed and his face was very pale, but he smiled sweetly as Kitty sat down next to him.

Kitty set the tray on the little table next to the bed and smiled back. "Well, you don't look very sick."

Festus rubbed his stomach. "Aside from a little twinge I don't feel sick."

"Do you feel hungry?"

The deputy eyed the tray suspiciously. "If'n you got any real food I do. I don't want no broth."

Doc appeared in the door. "Festus, you just had your appendix out. If the broth stays down you can have something more substantial for supper." He ran his hand over his face. "Kitty, I'd like to go out. Can you stay until I get back?"

"Of course."

Doc left and Festus looked at Kitty with a worried expression. "What in tarnation is ailin' Doc? When I woke up this mornin' he wuz so nice to me I thought for sure I wuz gonna die and he ain't yelled at me all day."

"He hasn't?"

Festus shook his head. "No, ma'am. Not oncet." His face grew alarmed. "Miss Kitty, do you reckon I am dyin' and he just don't want to say so?"

Kitty's mouth twitched as she handed her friend a mug. "You're not dying, Festus. I think Doc just feels bad because he didn't take care of you sooner."

The deputy tasted the broth and made a face but Kitty looked at him sternly and he drank it meekly enough. She took the mug back and he relaxed against the pillows. "Miss Kitty, that don't make a lick of sense. With all Doc's done for me I couldn't pay him back if'n I lived to be a hund'rd. He's alwuz tuck real good care of me."

Kitty sighed. "Did you tell him that?"

"I tried to! I wanted to thank him for comin' and gettin' me last night but he didn't pay me no mind a'tall." Festus yawned and Kitty got up and tucked the blankets closer around him.

"Why don't you try and get some sleep?"

"What about Doc?"

Kitty said reassuringly, "I promise to sit right here and wait for him."

"All right, Miss Kitty." Festus closed his eyes. "Mebbe you can talk some sense into the old scuttter..." His voice trailed away. A moment more and he was asleep.

"Kitty?" Matt was standing in the doorway of the bedroom. She put a finger to her lips and he lowered his voice to a whisper. "How is he?"

Kitty got up and led the way into the office, softly closing the bedroom door. "He's fine, Matt. He drank a whole cup of broth and went right off to sleep." She frowned. "Festus is not the one I'm worried about at the moment."

Matt nodded. "I know what you mean. Doc's at the Longbranch." He took a deep breath. "I think you'd better get over there."

Kitty looked at the bedroom door. "Well, Matt, I told Doc I'd stay with Festus until he got back..."

The marshal bit his lip. "I'll stay with Festus. Right now I think Doc needs you more."


	5. Chapter 5

Kitty walked into the Longbranch and stopped dead. Doc was at a back table with a half-empty bottle of whiskey in front of him and from the way he was sagging he must have put it all away himself. Sam looked at her helplessly. "I'm sorry, Miss Kitty. When he asked for a bottle I didn't know he was going to start drinking like that."

Kitty laid a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Sam. You go take a break for a while." He started to leave and she added, "Lock the doors."

"Yes, ma'am."

Kitty waited until Sam was gone before joining Doc. The old man didn't notice when she first sat down, then he looked up blearily. "Hello, Kitty."

"Doc."

He gestured at the bottle. "Want a drink?"

"No, thank you."

Doc reached for the bottle, then stopped and peered at Kitty again. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to stay with Festus." His voice rose. "Did you leave him alone up there?"

"Matt is with him." Kitty took the bottle. "Of course, what he needs right now is a doctor."

Doc's voice was gruff. "I know that. Unfortunately, I'm the only one around." He pressed his hands over his eyes. "When I think of what I said to him last night...he needed me and I..."

Kitty spoke firmly. "You saved his life. Doc, I don't understand you. Festus is upstairs worrying about you and you come in here and get drunk. What's the matter with you?"

Doc ran his hand over his face. "What do you mean, worrying about me?"

"I think you should go ask him yourself." He looked around vaguely and she said gently, "Maybe you should have something to eat first." Kitty stood up. "Come on. I'll buy you dinner and we can get a tray for Festus."


	6. Chapter 6

Matt was sitting in the office with the bedroom door open when Doc and Kitty came in with a tray. Doc looked towards the bedroom. "Festus asleep?"

"Can't you hear that?"

A snore rattled from the other room and Doc ran his hand over his face. "Has he been like that the whole time?"

"He has." Matt took the tray from Kitty and set it down on the desk. "My ears could use a rest. Are you taking over?"

"For what it's worth." Doc looked up at his friend. "Thanks for staying."

The marshal hesitated. "Doc, if you need anything..."

The old man shook his head and Kitty took Matt's hand. "Come on, cowboy. I think you could use something to eat yourself."

Matt looked irresolute but Doc nodded and he went with Kitty. Doc watched them from the landing until they were out of sight before he took the tray to the bedroom and set it on the little table. He took Festus' wrist and the deputy opened his eyes. "Doc?"

"Just a minute, Festus." The old man finished counting his friend's pulse. "Well, you seem to be doing fine." He sat down next to the bed. "Do you want something to eat?"

Festus pushed himself up, grimacing. "Only if'n it's somethin' more solider than broth."

"I have crackers to go with it."

"Crackers!" Doc didn't say anything and the deputy's eyes narrowed. "Doc?"

Doc held out the mug of broth. "Drink that, please."

Festus lay back and closed his eyes. "I don't want no broth."

"Festus..."

"I ain't hungry. Just leave it there and I'll have it later."

Doc slammed the mug down and the deputy's eyes popped open. The old man got to his feet and started pacing. "The least you could do is cooperate with me! Don't you understand how sick you were last night? You could have..." Doc swallowed hard. "You could have died."

"Well, I didn't." The deputy's voice was very low. "'Pears to me you'd be a mite happier I'm alive'n kickin'."

Doc looked sharply at his friend. The deputy's gentle hazel eyes were as hurt and bewildered as a lost dog's and the old man came over to the bed and sat down. "Festus, I'm very happy you're alive." He took a deep breath and went on softly. "I'm just not happy with myself. I'm supposed to take care of people, not snap at them when they're sick. A doctor shouldn't make the kind of mistake I made last night."

"Ain't a doctor human like the rest of us?"

Doc frowned. "Well, of course."

"So mebbe you wuz just a mite more humanner than usual last night. I don't s'pose yore goin' to say you cain't make mistakes like ever'body else?"

The old man said quietly, "I can but when I make a mistake the cost can be very high."

"So you just go to work'n do the best you can. Cain't nobody do more'n that no matter how important what they're doin' is." Festus smiled affectionately at Doc. "If'n you want the pure ol'dee truth I'd have t'say I'd ruther have yore worst than any other feller's best any day of the week and twicet on Sunday." He sat up a little and pushed the pillows behind his back. "I b'lieve I'll take that broth now." Doc handed him the mug and he tasted the contents, shaking his head. "I should think if'n you wuz so concerned for my well-bein' you'd give me somethin' to eat 'stead of tryin' to starve me to death."

Doc saw the twinkle in the deputy's eyes and an answering spark lit his own. "I happen to know what a healing body needs better than you do."


	7. Chapter 7

Matt and Kitty were in the Longbranch at their favorite back table when Doc came in with Festus snarling at his heels. "I'm just sayin' I cain't make out why yore bill is so high!"

"I have expenses!"

"Expenses!" Festus headed for the marshal. "Matthew, Miss Kitty, what would you say to a blamed old quack what gouges a feller for expenses that he ain't even expensed?"

"I "expensed" plenty!" snapped Doc. "You lay around for a week while I run myself ragged taking care of you, feeding you..."

"Don't let's get into feedin'. I don't consider a couple of little cups of broth feedin'. By the time you let me up out of the bed I wuz so weak from hunger I couldn't hardly stand on my own two feet. I could have fell down and killed myself before I had a chance to starve to death."

"And I could have had a heart attack running back and forth every time you started whining you needed something! Matt, let me tell you..."

"Miss Kitty, I wuz just wantin' to say..."

Matt got to his feet. "Gentlemen, I have been a lawman for a long time and if there's one thing I've learned it's never to get involved in family disputes." He offered Kitty his arm. "Kitty, I think it's about supper time, isn't it?" She got to her feet and smiled up at him and he bent over to kiss her soundly on the lips. They got all the way outside before Festus and Doc started up again.

"Now look what you done!"

"And just what have I done?"

"You skeered off Matthew and Miss Kitty!"

"Why, you mangy, hard-headed..."

"You ornery old scutter..."

Matt and Kitty paraded serenely down the boardwalk, listening to the voices fade. When they were finally out of earshot she stopped for a moment.

"What's wrong, Kitty?"

Kitty squeezed Matt's arm. "Nothing, Matt." She looked up the street at the Longbranch and her eyes were shining with happiness. "At this moment, there is absolutely nothing wrong at all."


End file.
